On August 22, Illinois House Bill 1968 was signed into law. It lowers the number of signatures to get on the ballot for Mayor of Chicago from 25,000 signatures to 12,500 signatures. This is the easiest petition requirement (for candidates who are not Democrats or Republicans) to run for that office since 1931. The requirement between 1931 and 1979 was 5% of the last vote cast (usually about 50,000), and in 1979 it had been lowered to 25,000.